And speaking of selfies, I assume this study (which concludes — wow, whodathunkit? — that narcissists are more likely to post and crave feedback on selfies) must have been funded by government. Not ours, fortunately.

And speaking of governments: who’s named in the Panama Papers? Named so far, we should add. The silence on U.S.-based clients of Mossack Fonseca is like waiting for that second shoe to drop.

OTOH, the astute Megan McArdle says that what the papers reveal so far is a positive reflection on capitalism.

Ronald T. Richie. He was the 911 caller who got the perfectly innocent John Crawford SWATted and killed. Maybe he’ll finally pay a price. Maybe.

Sheesh. This article on why women should v*te for women makes me not ever want to v*te for a woman again. Well, not that I ever gave a crap about the sex of a candidate. And not that I’d ever v*te for a woman if the woman were Hillary. Or Dianne. Or … well, most of them.

From God to computers! In the 70s a friend of mine – an atheist then, and since – wrote an essay in college English class imagining that we, as members of this solar system, were part of God’s cell structure, that we’d never know if we were part of his heart, or eye, or brain, or the skin on his arm. But we were miniscule in the universe, no matter what we were, and let’s do the best we can while here on earth. (She was not making fun of either God or science at the time; she just had an active, healthy imagination for writing fiction.)

Now we are part of a computer game. And I think the reasonable response might be as she thought then: we are still miniscule in the universe, no matter what we are, and let’s do the best we can while here on earth.

That tiny house is one of the few I truly like. It’s been well thought out. I’m sure the $77,000 price tag is due to the quality of materials and the solar/water systems; even a somewhat lesser quality could ensure a decent liveable space, especially in a temproary or second home.

No flamethrower, but that reminds me of the time in my RVN tour when I took over a mountain-top radio relay base. (On a mountain that was too steep to climb up, helicopter access only. One end of the top was off-limits due to an abandoned French minefield.)

I got a you-don’t-want-to-know answer when I asked the senior NCO how much ammo we had on hand, so I went looking. Then I had everything pulled out of the base magazine and evaluated.

We had everything from .45ACP tracer to cases of 7.62mm ball left over from pre-M-16 days. Some of it was rusty. Lots of 60mm mortar shells for which we had no mortar. And Bangalore torpedoes.

Shortly I had colonels dropping by just to look at the latter.

Bill St. ClairApril 9, 2016 6:05 am

Universe a simulation? Certainly possible, but unlikely to be provable either way.

“The universe isn’t bad, for a high school science project. When this Yahweh fellow grows up, he shows real promise.” — Bill St. Clair

Jim B.April 9, 2016 8:45 am

Computer simulations? The Japanese considered whether or not we were “real” or if our reflections, like in a shiny wooden floor, was the ones that were “real”.

As for flamethrowers, I’d concede the author’s final point. : D

trying2b-amusedApril 9, 2016 6:02 pm

” . . . I’d like to knock the programmer upside the head.”

Depends on exactly what you mean by “programmer”. The simulation itself, the VR engine, so to speak, is superb. The story running on it is what sucks a–.

What’s it say that when reading the article about flamethrowers, the part that stuck out was “bamboo poisoning”?

KenKApril 10, 2016 8:32 am

Gun selfies sure bring out the inner knucklehead in a lot of people.

KristophrApril 10, 2016 10:16 am

The silence about US depositors in that Panamanian company isn’t surprising.

FATCA makes it difficult for foriegn institutions to handle large American accounts.

Any such large accounts are held in foriegn companies, trusts, or foundations that are controlled by Americans, instead.

So no names here, unlike foriegn depositors, who can hold accounts under their own names without having the IRS punish the bank through the SWIFT system for failing to report large accounts owned by Americans.

davidApril 11, 2016 12:38 pm

Ah, selfies! The fastest way known to man to look like a douche when you’re really desperate to be considered cool.

JoelApril 11, 2016 1:49 pm

Another super high tech tiny house without a single dresser or closet. Give him credit, though, at least there does appear to be redundant means of heating water.

LarryArnoldApril 11, 2016 11:04 pm

It doesn’t have a gun room, either. Or a magazine for ammo.

AnonymousApril 12, 2016 4:20 pm

Define “computer”. Define “simulation”. Hypothesis one says the universe was created by, and is maintained by, the agency of an extraterrestrial alien named “God”. But then where did God come from? This is ridiculous. Hypothesis two says we avoid answering the above question by using an infinite regress of bigger Gods, like Russian nesting dolls. This is also ridiculous. When all the hypotheses are internally inconsistent, that means we don’t know enough about the subject to justify having an opinion.

Front Sight certificates!

I’m not soliciting donations right now.

I'll be having a big fundraiser sometime in 2018. THEN I'll solicit donations like mad for a few weeks.

But a friend asked for these donation options. And should you just happen to be one of those wild-n-crazy generous people, far be it from me to discourage your wild-n-craziness.

First, you can PayPal.me That link lets you donate without me paying any fees. If you pay from your own PayPal balance or linked bank account, you won't pay any fees either. There's a small fee for paying via credit card. You DON'T have to have a PayPal account to use my PayPal.me link, but you will need to allow JavaScript if you surf with scripts turned off.

Then, a way to donate Bitcoin.

1ESNG1NxLQH6AGQJKMgYYuxNLJjoLRaQwX

Want more? Check out the Cabal

Like this site and want to delve deeper? Visit Claire's Cabal, our sister site for members only. Membership is now FREE, and we screen against trolls for a more pleasant forum experience.